The Last Lap

Howes Growls: a plea for mercy — and more orthodox leadership.

Gooner print columnist Richard Howes wonders if this Sunday’s lap of honour, after our final home game of the season, should be Martin Ødegaard’s last as captain.

I watched Martin Ødegaard roll away to the halfway line after his whirling shot created the chance for Mikel Merino to head our leveller at Anfield a few days ago.

He somehow looked stuck in between delight at the goal and despair that his shot hadn’t itself beaten Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson. After Paris Saint-Germain’s Donnarumma denied our captain with an even more miraculous save only a few days earlier, we all felt the Norwegian’s pain.

Our captain is down on his luck, and I fear even a summer of rest and recuperation won’t be enough to return him to the frame of mind he must be in to lead us during a crucial pre-season and early throes of the next campaign. Ødegaard needs to be cosseted and nurtured back to full form, and it’s time to relieve him of the Arsenal captaincy to allow that to happen. It’s also the merciful thing to do.

Ødegaard’s laps of the pitch after every match — I always stay until the end of the game — are meaningful and authentic. He appreciates the support, and we laud him for giving unwavering commitment to the cause. Whether we’ve won, lost, or drawn; whether he’s played great for 90 minutes, or been hauled off and finished the game on the bench, he walks to every corner and applauds upper and lower tiers of fans. But recently he’s done so with sunken shoulders. The armband is weighing heavy.

There’ll likely be a lap of (dis)honour after the Newcastle game on Sunday, even if the mood won’t be as joyous as last season. I’ll be watching closely from Block 27 as Ødegaard leads the team round and there’ll be an all too familiar trudge to his cadence. A paltry return in terms of goals, when we needed them from midfield most, and no winners’ medals of any kind for his troops; truth is, he’s been feeling sorry for himself for a while.

Pseudo superintendent

The trouble with putting people into leadership positions who lack a naturally authoritative presence, is that it puts pressure on other facets of their character to inspire people to follow them. With Ødegaard, we’re constantly reminded by those within the club that he leads by example. In other words, he’s not going to issue a ferocious rallying cry, or pull someone aside at the Sobha Realty Training Centre and beat the s*** out of them with his hair brush. Ødegaard isn’t going to drive Gabriel Martinelli out to a remote fjord and repeatedly dunk him until he gets the message to keep his head up when he’s running down the wing.

What he is going to do is set high standards in terms of training and attention to detail. He leads our press and organises the team. Inescapably, our captain is a magnificent footballer and seemingly a likeable bloke. When he’s at the top of his game, he’s probably a fine leader too. The trouble is, he hasn’t had his best (injury impacted) season, and it’s become a vicious cycle, wherein his form and captaincy duties are struggling to hold each other up. Worse, each is pulling the other down.

The good news is, we have the perfect replacement: Declan Rice.

Undoubtedly player-of-the-season (I voted for him last year too), Rice has been captain designate for a long time. The Gooner website doesn’t have the scrolling space for enough superlatives about one of our best ever signings, and his natural leadership skills need to be harnessed at a time when a youthful, exuberant squad covets more commanding senior players to follow.

Ødegaard’s laissez-faire approach has run its course.

Our young players need the midfielder’s best form, not his pseudo superintendence.